MISSION COMMAND IN THE JOINT TASK FORCE – …

1 MISSION COMMAND IN THE JOINT TASK FORCE PORT OPENING A thesis presented to the Faculty of the Army COMMAND and General Staff College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OF MILITARY ART AND SCIENCE General Studies by PHILIP TODD TURNER, MAJOR USA , University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, 2001 Fort Leavenworth, Kansas 2015 Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. ii REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved OMB No. 0704-0188 Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing this collection of information.

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3 PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR FORM TO THE ABOVE ADDRESS. 1. REPORT DATE (DD-MM-YYYY) 12-06-2015 2. REPORT TYPE Master s Thesis 3. DATES COVERED (From - To) AUG 2014 JUN 2015 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE MISSION COMMAND in the JOINT Task FORCE Port Opening 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) Major Philip Todd Turner 5d. PROJECT NUMBER 5e. TASK NUMBER 5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) Army COMMAND and General Staff College ATTN: ATZL-SWD-GD Fort Leavenworth, KS 66027-2301 8.

4 PERFORMING ORG REPORT NUMBER 9. SPONSORING / MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSOR/MONITOR S ACRONYM(S) 11. SPONSOR/MONITOR S REPORT NUMBER(S) 12. DISTRIBUTION / AVAILABILITY STATEMENT Approved for Public Release; Distribution is Unlimited 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 14. ABSTRACT The JOINT Task FORCE - Port Opening is a GRF assigned non-standing JTF designed to rapidly deploy in support of GCC requirements to rapidly open a port of debarkation prior to the arrival of RFF units. Once activated, JTF-PO assigned units transition operational control from their respective assigned Army, Air FORCE , and Navy chains of commands directly to USTRANSCOM for the duration of employment.

5 This paper examined the current COMMAND construct through the lense of MISSION COMMAND Philosophy and addresses the question: is JTF-PO s OPCON relationship with USTRANSCOM the appropriate task organization under the principles of MISSION COMMAND ? This qualitative analysis used in-depth interviewing to gain a perspective of the perceived benefits and disadvantages of the current OPCON relationship with USTRANSCOM, as well as two proposed alternative OPCON relationships: GCC operational control and service component retention of operation control. This analysis included viewpoints from Army, Air FORCE , and Navy officers in grades O4-O6 with significant experience in JTF-PO operations.

6 15. SUBJECT TERMS JOINT Task FORCE Port Opening, JTF-PO; MISSION COMMAND , Operational Control, Distribution Process, Transportation, Global Response FORCE , Port of Debarkation, Rapid Port Opening 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT 18. NUMBER OF PAGES 19a. NAME OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON a. REPORT b. ABSTRACT c. THIS PAGE 19b. PHONE NUMBER (include area code) (U) (U) (U) (U) 105 Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8-98) Prescribed by ANSI Std. iii MASTER OF MILITARY ART AND SCIENCE THESIS APPROVAL PAGE Name of Candidate: Major Philip Todd Turner Thesis Title: MISSION COMMAND in the JOINT Task FORCE Port Opening Approved by: , Thesis Committee Chair Eric M.

7 Morrison, , Member Allan S. Boyce, , Member Gerald J. Leonard, Accepted this 12th day of June 2015 by: , Director, Graduate Degree Programs Robert F. Baumann, The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the student author and do not necessarily represent the views of the Army COMMAND and General Staff College or any other governmental agency. (References to this study should include the foregoing statement.) iv ABSTRACT MISSION COMMAND IN THE JOINT TASK FORCE PORT OPENING by Major Philip Todd Turner, 105 pages.

8 The JOINT Task FORCE - Port Opening is a GRF assigned non-standing JTF designed to rapidly deploy in support of GCC requirements to rapidly open a port of debarkation prior to the arrival of RFF units. Once activated, JTF-PO assigned units transition operational control from their respective assigned Army, Air FORCE , and Navy chains of commands directly to USTRANSCOM for the duration of employment. This paper examined the current COMMAND construct through the lense of MISSION COMMAND Philosophy and addresses the question: is JTF-PO s OPCON relationship with USTRANSCOM the appropriate task organization under the principles of MISSION COMMAND ?

9 This qualitative analysis used in-depth interviewing to gain a perspective of the perceived benefits and disadvantages of the current OPCON relationship with USTRANSCOM, as well as two proposed alternative OPCON relationships: GCC operational control and service component retention of operation control. This analysis included viewpoints from Army, Air FORCE , and Navy officers in grades O4-O6 with significant experience in JTF-PO operations. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Foremost I would like to thank my lovely wife, Danielle Tenconi, for her unwavering, and sometimes callous, support.

10 Without her encouragement and steadfast positive attitude this final product would not exist. She is an inspiration. I would also like to thank the members of my thesis committee, Dr. Eric Morrison, Mr. Allan Boyce, and Mr. Gerald Leonard, as well as other COMMAND and General Staff College faculty members, Mr. Thomas Meara, Mr. Ken Szmed, and Mr. Leo Verhaeg for their support, encouragement, and patience throughout my thesis development. Their helpful feedback and recommendations are directly reflected in the final product. Additionally, I truly appreciate the administrative and formatting support from Ms.